To the Tribe on the Edge

Raza Khan Muhammadzai

Publishing Date: Tuesday, March 15 2005

There is very little authentic information available to the outside world about the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The remoteness of the area, and the political vacuum that has existed in the FATA for centuries, has led to unchecked authority resting with certain people, the maliks. These people have been grinding their own axes and manipulating the peculiar conditions in the FATA. Amid all this, the beguiled tribesmen have been used as scapegoats.

A comprehensive plan to revamp law enforcement agencies working in the FATA, the otherwise lawless territory of the country, was under consideration for quite some time. A reorganisation of law enforcement apparatus in the FATA has now been planned. The plan is to cost an estimated Rs 1.2 billion non-recurring expenditure. The scheme is of great significance not only for FATA but the whole country. For, the law and order situation in the rest of the country is linked to the efficient control of the government over the tribal areas.

Lawlessness in the FATA has always made maintenance of order in the entire country a daunting task. Hardened criminals and terrorists, after conducting operations in settled areas, in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in particular, have been fleeing to the FATA and using these areas as their sanctuaries.

To give but only two examples, on July 22, 2004, a World Health Organization vehicle carrying a doctor was attacked in Mohmand Agency . This led to a closure of offices by a number of UN subsidiary organisations in the NWFP. Most recently two journalists were killed in South Waziristan Agency by unknown assailants while they were returning after covering the truce between militant Baitullah Mehsud and the government.

The present structure of law enforcement agencies in the FATA is outmoded and decadent. It does call for reforms, but it must be kept in mind that international, or more aptly the US pressure is the underlying factor behind the FATA reforms programme, of which security is the main aspect. The feeling is that a plan that is not indigenously evolved, and which doesn�t keep in view the interests and aspirations of people and their development, is liable to backfire.

Currently levies called Khasadar Force, are mainly responsible for maintenance of law and order in the tribal areas. The mechanism of recruitment of Khasadars has been questioned time and again. In fact, the political administration of the respective agencies has been accused of doling out Khasadaris as political bribe to tribes and Maliks, the tribal elders. It has been dubbed as the most ill-organised and undisciplined force. Personnel of Khasadar force have been found involved in crimes themselves and the force has never been of any use in maintenance of law and order in the FATA. Moreover, Khasadarars, who are recruited from different tribes, have seldom taken action against outlaws belonging to their own tribe as clannish and tribal bonds are quite strong. This is most obvious in agencies where two or more large tribes reside, for instance the Khyber inhabited by Afridi and Shinwari tribes. Likewise, South Waziristan where Wazir and Mehsud are the major tribes.

In Kurram Agency, apart from tribal divisions, there is a major sectarian bifurcation of Shias and Sunnis. Tribal based law and order maintenance apparatus has proved most ineffectual in Kurram where sectarian violence has erupted many times.

Khasadari is a much-abused system in other respects too. A tribesman may become a Khasadar, but does not consider himself bound to be on duty. He may ask a relative to do his duty. Then, there are instances where relatives of dead Khasadars have been drawing their emoluments posthumously.

According to the new plan, Khasadar numbering 50 and 10 from each Agency and frontier region respectively would be trained for three months by police and military. What improvement can be made in the capacity of law enforcers with in such a short duration of training imparted to so small number of Khasadars, is anybody�s guess. Even if all the Khasadars were to come together and exposed to this training, they number will still be very small for such a large population.

The efficacy of the plan also becomes doubtful when it is viewed in the background of a statement by the NWFP governor, who also happens to be the President�s agent for the FATA. The governor has said the plan will have no affect whatsoever on the existing Khasadaris. This would mean that status quo in the FATA is desirable, as are some cosmetic changes.

Is banning arms in FATA possible?

An important aspect of law and order in the tribal areas, famous and dreaded for unruly tribesmen, is these being a repository of weapons of every conceivable make. The mode of life of the tribesmen has been such that requires compulsory possession of arms. Moreover, possession of arms for self-defence has been justified as successive governments have left the tribesmen to themselves on the pretext of being not meddling in their affairs. The situation has gone from bad to worse. These areas have become dumps of all kinds of weapons from simple TT pistols to sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles.

The Afghan war brought more and more weapons to the tribal areas of Pakistan from where they have since been reaching to every nook and cranny of the country. Even when the whole of the FATA and the NWFP had become heaps of arms and heavy arms had become household items, the government never moved an inch to clean up the Augean stables. According to an estimate there are more than one million AK-47 rifles in the country. In 2002 about 4000 people were gunned down in the country (official figures). Some time back, governor NWFP had clamped a ban on display of arms in one of the FATA agencies, North Waziristan. However, it could not be implemented fully.

It is a completely erroneous view that arms are the tribesmen�s jewellery. No amount of eulogizing the weapon could justify a culture of arms. However, it is very important for the government to keep in view that arms have an important role in the social dynamics of tribal areas. In fact, arms have been keeping a balance of terror among the unruly tribesmen. Maintaining such a balance was necessitated, as said earlier, due to absence of state authority. The state should have otherwise acted as an arbiter in tribal disputes if it could not exercise complete sway over the areas. This balance of terror has a great practical value -- of preserving peace in a highly volatile region inhabited by tribesmen armed to the teeth.

The government has to do away with the present administrative structure that has been abused beyond repair by federal functionaries and their subordinates. Besides, a completely new policing system will have to be put in place as the present policy of revamping the existing Khasadari policing system would not deliver. The new police force should comprise officials who have a thorough knowledge of tribesmen�s psychology and tribal sociology. There is no paucity of such educated people among the tribesmen and this talent should be tapped for the betterment of law and order conditions of their own areas.

Also, no campaign can succeed unless and until the people who are going to be affected by it are taken into confidence and their fears allayed. This aim can be attained through an awareness drive. It is also essential that the government should take a very firm stand and there should be a continuity of purpose and policy.

The government has to develop the arm-making skill of the tribesmen. It must make elaborate arrangements for marketing the legitimate bore weapons produced in the FATA in the country and abroad. The present official policy is flawed as it is based on eliminating the skill.

The government must inculcate in the minds of tribesmen a feeling that they are equal citizens of the country, and what positive affect the banning of arms would have on their own development and the development of the whole country.

Unless these measures are taken, it will be unrealistic to expect any improvement in law and order situation in the FATA and also in the NWFP. If the government is serious in bringing the tribal areas in the mainstream and if it really wants rule of law, it ought to do away with the extant administrative apparatus in tribal areas. This will include revocation of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), putting an end to the Maliki system, raising a fully equipped rapid reaction force in place of obsolete Khasadar force, and last but not the least, there should be commitment on part of the government to really empower tribesmen and to enable them to develop their areas.